The web has transformed beyond all recognition over the past decade. And yet the tremendous speed of change during the last 10 years will actually seem snail-like when we look back on 2016 in another 10 years.

Research suggests that the digital transformation market, driven by the development and implementation of new products and services, will be worth a staggering $369.22 billion by 2020. Digital transformation can mean many different things to many different people, but there is no question that the current, far-reaching transformation of web architecture is going to fundamentally revolutionise the ways that we all access digitally-hosted information and experiences, completing what our co-founder and CTO, Dries Buytaert, terms as a ‘Big Reverse of the Web’.

Today, we search for what we want by ‘pulling’ information from websites or apps sometimes spending hours searching for what we’re after. But what if we didn’t have to? What if personalised, contextualised content was ‘pushed’ to us? And, I don’t mean those web ads which takeover your web page to display primitive recommendations based on something you may have bought or researched. Instead, we’ll see a return to the original purpose of the web, which was to let us know what’s relevant and to connect us with others in a highly sophisticated way. Instead of visiting a website, we’ll be notified proactively about relevant and important information, rather like an extension of our smartphone notification centre, on which many of us have become reliant.

So the web is starting a massive re-architecture and re-platform journey in order to meet cultural and consumer demands. Wearables and the Internet of Things (IoT) are slowly but surely fuelling this fundamental shift. Any product could conceivably become smart and connected, enabling the ‘push’ concept to be realised in a way that will fundamentally change our everyday lives. In 2015, only 1 percent of IoT devices were “networked” but one estimate states that by 2030, 500 billion devices and objects will be connected to the Internet[1]. The current 1 percent includes some well-known examples like the Oral B Bluetooth electric toothbrush, Philips’ Lighting hue lightbulbs (with further connectivity for the Apple HomeKit), iRobot Roomba’s vacuum cleaners, the Nest learning thermostat for smart home management, Babolat Play Pure Drives with sensors and connectivity in tennis racket handles and, of course, the Nike+ running system.

Crucially, all IoT paths lead back to our smartphones and their apps, as each of these products feeds its data to the palm of our hand to help us understand and manage the things that matter to us.

IoT capabilities are showing us how the current status quo, where anticipated global demand produces a set of standardised products and services through local channels, will be turned on its head. Completely customised products and services are now being offered through sophisticated personal relationships with brands and service providers. Companies have the power to monitor, measure and assess digital experiences and most importantly respond to what customers are doing or requesting. The end result should be about putting people, rather than technology and frameworks, first.

So how can brands, digital chiefs and marketers anticipate what lies ahead and figure out their place in the IoT landscape? The answer lies at the nexus between today’s goal of creating highly personalised, customised and curated content and digital experiences and the web architecture of tomorrow that I’ve described.

In guiding your business to prepare for the Big Reverse of the Web, my advice is that a total transformation in thinking is needed. Promote and prioritise ways to:

  • Embrace rather than fight the delivery of your business within a push-based web, on websites, wireless devices and the IoT;
  • Re-engineer the current digital strategy to resource and create future experiences;
  • Continue or add extra fire to any project that sets out to provide personalised content, services and products to consumers; and...
  • Promote a genuinely agile and ‘open’ way of working and thinking about business and industry-wide digital changes.

The strategy behind each of these four elements can only be decided by each individual business, but one thing will be common for everyone… The phrase most digital marketers live by: “putting the customer first”, will never be truer or more challenging to achieve than in the next few years to come.

[1] Source: Cisco website


By Sara Richter, VP Marketing, EMEA, at Acquia

 

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